One of the main challenges behind spinout companies is “finding dollars to move the companies forward,” said Ellen Purpus, head of CHOP’s Tech Transfer Office. The partnership with Osage, which invests exclusively on startups that are commercializing university research, aims to help that.

Like other tech transfer offices, the one at CHOP, started in the early 90s, looks for businesses that can partner with the hospital and turn its research into products — that can mean anything from vaccines to medicines to research tools. It does about seven to ten licensing deals a year, said Ellen Purpus, head of CHOP’s Tech Transfer Office.